LC mayor hears from students about why they are leaving the city for college

As high school seniors move their tassels over this month, education and city leaders are concerned many may head out of the area for college.

Thursday night the mayor of Lake Charles, McNeese and SOWELA administrators, and high school students came together to talk about the reasons why some of those students are leaving for college.

LaGrange High School senior Renee Simien has lived in Lake Charles all her life.

But as mayor Nic Hunter asked why students want to leave during Thursday night's education roundtable, a lack of diversity was one of the reasons Simien and others gave.

"I definitely feel that making Lake Charles and McNeese more diverse will help kids want to stay," she said.

Though Lake Charles has a technical college and a public university, Washington Marion High School senior Kourtlen Thomas feels he needs to leave to see what else is out there.

"At the stage I'm at right now I feel like I'm not as valuable to Lake Charles," he said. "I would like to leave to learn new things from different cultures, and bring it back to Lake Charles so I will be more valuable."

As the students spoke about TOPS, school safety, and even drainage, Mayor Hunter says he understands why some are ready to go.

"For those who do want to leave Lake Charles and get an education that's okay, we're alright hearing that, but Lake Charles needs to be a welcoming center," said Hunter.

Hunter introduced a variety of new initiatives during the discussion like:

- McNeese department of agriculture working with city on oak tree preservation for central school & tree planting along First Avenue

- Mayor's youth partnership will host annual roundtable discussion

While McNeese and SOWELA aren't the schools for Simien, coming back to her city is her goal in the end.

"I want to go and spread my wings so I can bring back positive things for the community," she said. "I feel like there's so much more out there. I want to bring beauty and success to Lake Charles, so I need to go and grasp it and come back to help and build my community."

Hunter says he is trying to make this roundtable discussion an annual thing. He says when they host the event next year they will have it at McNeese State University.

At least 1,124 residents are without power from Pujol Road all the way to Moeling Street near La. 171 according to the Entergy Map. According to Entergy, a serviceman is working to determine the cause of the outage. Power will be restored as soon as possible. Entergy estimates power will be restored by 2:30 p.m. Traffic lights may be affected. Copyright 2018 KPLC. All rights reserved. More >>

At least 1,124 residents are without power from Pujol Road all the way to Moeling Street near La. 171 according to the Entergy Map. According to Entergy, a serviceman is working to determine the cause of the outage. Power will be restored as soon as possible. Entergy estimates power will be restored by 2:30 p.m. Traffic lights may be affected. Copyright 2018 KPLC. All rights reserved. More >>

KATC is reporting that one is dead in a forklift accident at a Proctor & Gamble plant in Pineville. The investigation is still in its early stages, but a Proctor & Gamble spokesperson provided the following statement to KATC. "We are deeply saddened to confirm that a member of the P&G Product Supply Family passed away at our Alexandria manufacturing facility in a tragic accident during the early morning hours of May 24, 2018. The safety of our employees is a...

KATC is reporting that one is dead in a forklift accident at a Proctor & Gamble plant in Pineville. The investigation is still in its early stages, but a Proctor & Gamble spokesperson provided the following statement to KATC. "We are deeply saddened to confirm that a member of the P&G Product Supply Family passed away at our Alexandria manufacturing facility in a tragic accident during the early morning hours of May 24, 2018. The safety of our employees is a...

Johnnie Hardman has been found guilty of first-degree murder, armed robbery with a firearm, and two counts of conspiracy to commit armed robbery for the July 2017 murder of Joshua Touchet. The verdict was reached by the jury after 43 minutes of deliberation. Theresa Schmidt was in the courtroom. To see all of her coverage of the trial, view her Twitter feed below. Tweets by KplcTschmidt

Johnnie Hardman has been found guilty of first-degree murder, armed robbery with a firearm, and two counts of conspiracy to commit armed robbery for the July 2017 murder of Joshua Touchet. The verdict was reached by the jury after 43 minutes of deliberation. Theresa Schmidt was in the courtroom. To see all of her coverage of the trial, view her Twitter feed below. Tweets by KplcTschmidt

For the rest of the day, there will be more storms and showers that pop up in the afternoon. This is the new normal with the heat during the afternoon, and the extra moisture in the air. The good news for today is that there are a lot more clouds today, and that is keeping the temperature down a few degrees. That should help limit any storms this afternoon. So we will still likely see some develop, but not as many. Tonight, any rain we see should come to an end.

For the rest of the day, there will be more storms and showers that pop up in the afternoon. This is the new normal with the heat during the afternoon, and the extra moisture in the air. The good news for today is that there are a lot more clouds today, and that is keeping the temperature down a few degrees. That should help limit any storms this afternoon. So we will still likely see some develop, but not as many. Tonight, any rain we see should come to an end.